Food establishments that prepare food items for later sale and consumption by consumers typically package the food products once they have been prepared and then store them so that they can be later sold and carried out by the customer. These establishments use a variety of different types of packaging materials to package the food products, including paperboard cartons and styrofoam containers. While there are certain useful attributes associated with these types of boxes and containers, they also suffer from the significant disadvantage that they are relatively bulky and thus require a significant amount of storage space.
Another type of packaging material that has been used in the past is a sheet of packaging wrap in which the food product can be wrapped. This type of material is preferred in some respects in that it can be stored in a relatively small amount of space. This packaging wrap is oftentimes used in fast food establishments for wrapping and packaging a variety of different food products, including sandwich type products such as hamburgers and the like. In the case of fast food restaurants, for example, sandwich type products of many different types must be prepared and packaged in a quick and efficient manner to meet customer demand. It has been found that the typical techniques employed for wrapping sandwich products are not ideally suited for facilitating fast and efficient wrapping and packaging of sandwich products.
One technique commonly used to wrap sandwich products with a sheet of packaging wrap is schematically illustrated in FIGS. 4A-4D. This technique involves initially positioning a rectangularly shaped wrap 100 on a table or counter so that one side 104 of the wrap faces the preparer. The position of the preparer is identified with an X in FIGS. 4A-4D. A heel and a crown of bread are placed on the wrap, whereupon the crown is dressed and then flipped over onto the heel to form the sandwich 110 as shown in FIG. 4A. To fold the sandwich 110 with the wrap 110, the side 104 facing the preparer is first folded over the sandwich 110 in the direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 4B. Next, the opposite side 108 of the wrap is folded over the sandwich 100 and over the folded side 104 in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 4C to result in the partially folded sandwich shown in FIG. 4C. The corners of the two remaining sides 102, 106, of the wrap 100 are then folded on themselves to form triangles on the sides of the sandwich as seen in FIG. 4D. The opposite sides of the wrap are then tucked under the sandwich as indicated by the arrows in FIG. 4D to produce the finished wrapped sandwich. This wrapping technique is known as the gift wrap style of wrapping.
Another technique for wrapping sandwich products is schematically illustrated in FIGS. 5A-5D and involves orienting the packaging wrap 100 in the same manner noted above so that one side 104 of the wrap faces the preparer. The heel and crown of bread are placed on the wrap 100, with the heel being positioned adjacent the side 104 of the wrap which is nearest to and faces the preparer positioned at point X in FIG. 5A. After the crown of bread is dressed, the crown is flipped over onto the heel to form the sandwich 110. The wrap 100 with the sandwich product 110 is then rolled up in a direction away from the preparer (i.e., towards the opposite side 108) as shown by the arrow in FIG. 5B. This results in the partially wrapped configuration shown in FIG. 5B. The sandwich 110 and the side 104 are then rolled for a second time over the center of the wrap in the manner depicted by the arrow in FIG. 5C to result in the configuration illustrated in FIG. 5C. As a last step, the sides 102, 106 are tucked under the sandwich in the manner shown by the arrows in FIG. 5D to produce the wrapped sandwich shown in FIG. 5D.
While the above-described techniques are suitable for packaging or wrapping sandwich products, it has been found that they are not particularly well suited for wrapping sandwich type products in the most efficient manner. Increasing the speed and ease with which the sandwich type products can be wrapped improves the overall efficiency of the food service operation. Further, with sandwiches wrapped in accordance with known techniques, the sandwich wrap tends to pop open, particularly during transport from, for example, the wrapping station to the customer. Thus, a need exists for packaging techniques which will maintain the integrity of the sandwich closure while also facilitating the speed and efficiency with which food products such as sandwich type products can be packaged for later sale to and consumption by customers.